Warmth
by Orindae
Summary: <html><head></head>He was the colour and warmth in her life. He was her sunshine. [AU. slow-build]</html>


"Naruto! I told you to sit and wait on the chairs!" A woman scolded, grabbing her son's fists and dragging him away from the candy vendor. Naruto huffed, puffing up his cheeks in a pout and stubbornly glaring up at his scowling mother.

"I was getting hungry!" Naruto retorted, snatching his hands away from his mother's grip and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hitting a candy vendor won't solve anything." His mother replied, rolling her eyes at her child's behaviour. She sighed and finally smiled down at him, reaching down and pinching his cheek, to which he let out a surprised yelp and furiously rubbing at his red cheek as soon as she let go.

"I know you've had to wait long, but I'll be finishing up soon enough." His mother said, reaching into her pocket and handing him a few coins. "You can get some candy, but only if you promise to sit still and wait for me, alright? And this time, please try not to smash the machine to death."

The young blonde nodded his head, flashing his mother a bright smile before he dashed off to the candy vendor again. His mother chuckled softly as she watched him stand up on his tippy toes to put the coins in before turning around and rushing off to a waiting patient.

After a little bit of a struggle, Naruto finally managed to get a chocolate bar out of the machine and started walking back to the waiting room his mother told him to wait in. His mother worked as a nurse at this hospital and his dad usually worked until late, which meant that he usually had to sit here and wait for his mom if she had to work a little bit later than usual. Naruto didn't really mind all that much, he usually went and talked to some patients or pulled pranks on some doctors (which he always vehemently denied he did not do).

Though sometimes, when he wandered through the halls, peering into rooms with open doors, he would always spot the same lonely girl, who he thought lived here. Her room had always seemed cold to him. It was spacious, only occupying a single bed, a small table next to it and monitors. There was plenty of room to move around, it seemed, but nowhere to be comfortable. It was impeccably clean with not a single hair out of place.

A pale, lifeless girl, with straight dark hair would always be sitting on the bed, staring blankly out of the single window in the room with her hands gently crossed over each other, with wires and tubes protruding from her arms. It seemed as if she never had any visitors. It seemed, at those random times he would peek inside that she was completely disconnected from the world. He sometimes wondered what she was able to see beyond that window she was always staring at.

Today, however, he paused in front of her door, the chocolate bar still firmly clasped in his small hand as he stared at her petite frame. He slowly walked into her room, the dull thud of his feet the only sound in the room as he neared her bed. As he walked, her head slowly turned away from the window and towards him, towards the sound of his footsteps. Her eyes were a pale, glassy colour, not focusing in on anything; instead it seemed as if she was staring at everything and nothing at the same time.

"Who is this?" She asked, her voice soft, barely above a whisper as she stared out in front of her, her small hands softly gripping the sheet.

Naruto came to a stop directly in front of her bed, staring up at her with wide, curious blue eyes and smiling up at her. "I'm Naruto, who are you?" He asked, his voice seeming incredibly loud in the silent room. The girl almost flinched at the sound of his voice, completely unused to someone speaking so loudly.

She hesitated for a moment before mumbling out "H-hinata." And slightly shying away from him. Naruto tilted his head to the side, a slight frown on his face.

"What?"

"H-hinata. I'm… Hinata." She finally said her voice still soft but now a little more audible.

Naruto smiled and placed the chocolate onto her bed before hoisting himself up onto the bed and settling down across from her. Hinata flinched as she felt him clamber onto the bed and instinctively drew her legs up, wrapping her thin arms around her knees as she stared blankly in front of her.

As if sensing her discomfort and nervousness, Naruto reached back for the chocolate and opened it, breaking it in half and holding out one piece for her. A few seconds passed and Hinata never reached forward to take the chocolate out of his hand, making him increasingly more annoyed.

"Oi, are you going to take it or just stare at me?" He asked, puffing up his cheeks in a childish pout as he leaned forward and pokes her arm with the piece of chocolate. Hinata jumped a little bit at the contact and blinked owlishly at him, too startled to immediately react.

"You know, it's going to melt if I keep holding it like this and then Mom will yell at me for getting my hands dirty and sticky again." He whined, trying to shove the chocolate into her hand now.

Hinata clumsily grabbed hold of the chocolate, dragging her thumb over the smooth surface before slowly, and rather hesitantly bringing it up to her mouth. She took a small bite at first, savouring the flavour as Naruto watched her, confused as to why she was being so slow about it. His sweets never lasted five minutes with the speed he ate and here she was, taking one small bite.

"Do you not like chocolate or what?" He asked through his own mouthful, wiping his mouth off with his sleeve.

Hinata quickly shook her head, her hand clutching the chocolate more firmly now. "N-no! It's delicious! Thank you, really. I just…" She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I've never had this kind of chocolate before. But why would you share something like this, for me?"

Naruto grinned, apparently pleased with her answer. "It's because we're friends! Friends are supposed to share stuff with each other, you know." He replied.

Hinata could only stare at him, gaping at him a little bit. She was used to being alone here. She was used to only getting check-ups a few times a day from nurses. She was used to the silence. She was used to the cold. His presence, his voice, completely shattered all of that.

"What's your favourite colour?" Naruto suddenly blurted out.

"I don't have one. What's yours?" She replied, taking another bite of her chocolate.

"What do you mean you don't have a favourite colour? Everyone does!" Naruto demanded, looking at her as if she had grown a second head.

"I've never seen any colours, I don't know what they look like."

"Well my favourite is red. I think you'd like blue or maybe purple." Naruto said, shrugging, yet still eyeing her rather strangely. "What's your favourite animal then?"

"I don't know." She muttered again, drawing more into herself.

"Choosing one is pretty hard, 'cause there's so many. Mine is probably a fox."

"Foxes are… nice."

"Yeah! So what's your favourite type of food!"

"... I'm not sure."

"Favourite drink?"

"Water, I suppose."

"Favourite TV show?"

"I don't have one."

Naruto groaned, dragging his hand over his face in exasperation. "Don't you have anything you like?"

Hinata remained silent for a while as she thought before speaking up, "Stories. And flowers. I like when people read to me."

"My mom always tells the best bedtime stories! I'll tell them to you when I visit again!" Naruto said as he moved to hop off of the bed. Hinata's head whipped to the side from the noise. "I have to go now, my mom is probably looking for me. I'll visit again soon!" He yelled before running off.

For a few moments, Hinata sat there still staring straight in front of her, listening to his fading footsteps. A friend. He was someone who thought of her as a friend.

For the first time, in the weeks she had spent in the empty, silent room, she felt at ease. As if the room suddenly became warmer.

A/N; ah this chapter is quite a bit boring I apologise. It's really just a basic introductory and there will be more stuff happening in the next chapter I swear! Hinata and Naruto are both still extremely young, just to clear that up.  
>Hinata is a patient at the hospital Naruto's mother works at, if that was unclear idk. She's blind and more information about her will be revealed later on in the story! : hope this was ok!<br>Any feedback is welcome!


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